HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-11-07, Page 10receive government grants
during this period. However,
only the year 1980 has been
mentioned for the program.
We have not been advised as
to what is going to happen to
overburdened small
municipalities lacking suf-
ficient population to raise
taxes when this phasing in
period comes to an end.
Furthermore, how can the
Ontario Government justify
reducing the tax burden for
affluent cities and townships
by shifting the onus to small,
ppor municipalities,
It is clear that the
Government has failed to
introduce a fair and
equitable assessment
program. For the past ten
years it has shown. great
indecision on this particular
issue and it has spent
millions upon millions on a
project which can only ac-
complish a grave disruption
to the economy of rural
municipalities.
It seems strange that the
impact studies of tax reform
in Toronto would deter the
government from acting but
the impact on rural
municipalities of half
measures such as those
being proposed have not
been fully considered.
We in the Liberal Party do
not support a phasing in of
the factors but urge that the
government review the
entire question of property
taxes with a view to bringing
in a complete package of tax
reform which would address
itself to the weighting of
farm values and the ability
of people to pay, especially
for services such as
education.
We believe that the
government should and must
find alternative ways of
collecting taxes other than
through property taxation.
The cost of purchasing a
home, land and building
materials have increased to
such an extent over the last
10 years that the average
citizen does not have the
funds to buy a home. Those
who are homeowners are
finding it beyond their
means to pay the high
government and education
taxes which nave 'Peen
forced upon them, All of this
coupled with red tape is
making life more or less a
financial nightmare for the
average Canadian,
In summary while I agree
that every man is equally
entitled to protection under
the law instituted by
government, I disagree
when government grants
priveleges and gratuities to
make the rich richer and the
potent more powerful.
It is then I believe, that it is
the right of the humble
members of society to
complain of the injustice
being meted out to them by
that government.
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Page 10 Times-Advocate, November 7, 1979
.. . .. .
other townships. This being
the case, it almost seems
that municipalities should be
encouraging residential and
industrial development to
help pay the taxes.
Certainly, the province
cannot have it both ways.
Rural municipalities cannot
be expected to pay the price
for preserving farmland and
then have those farm values
used to increase their levies.
The Government has
stated that there will be a
phasing in program of the
new equalization factors and
that municipalities will
By JACK RIDDELL.
MPP Huron-Middlesex
Elaborating further on my
article of last week, I have
become more and more
concerned about the new tax
equalization factors
following my study of the
assessment of other Mem-
bers.
These figures are being
used as a yard stick by the
Ontario Government for its
proposed implementation of
the new tax equalization
factors for municipal pur-
poses. It is my opinion that
this is not going to ac-
complish equality among
municipalities.
If we consider in-
dustrialized urban areas
with high density
populations, we find that in
those cities and townships,
employment is usually
available for people who are
willing to work. Yet it is
municipalities such as these
that will benefit from the
equalization factors because
their tax assessment will be
lowered.
However, in low income
rural areas where these is
virtually no industry and
many people encounter a
very marginal subsistence,
the levies are going to be
raised. In many cases the
increase is going to be very
substantial.
These municipalities are
barely in a position to pay
their present tax
assessment, far less be able
to raise funds to pay the
higher taxation that will be
imposed on them by the
equalization factors.
It appears that the
Government has cased its
assessment for rural areas
on land sales in recent years.
The land as we all know has
escalated to unrealistic
costs. Unfortunately, the
government has failed to
take into consideration that
much of this land, has been
purchased by the more af-
fluent people, many of whom
prefer to live in tne country
even though they work in the
larger centres and others
who are non-resident land
owners.
It is acknowledged that
appreciation of farm values
over the period from 1970 to
• 1978 has been largely
responsible from the
dramatic shifts proposed for
1980. Unfortunately, such
weighting is totally
unrelated to the numbers of
people available to share the
tax load or the ability of
rural municipalities to bear
such levies.
In many Townships the
local municipality spends a
small percentage of the tax
dollar with the balance going
elsewhere and being sub-
jected to the new factoring.
School taxes amount to a
relatively high percentage of
the tax bill at present.
It seems grossly unfair
that residents of these rural
townships should have to pay
a much greater level of
taxation for education than
residents on properties of
similar values in the large
urban centres.
Many townships have been
active in developing policies
to preserve farmland in
Ontario. The use of current
farm values, often unrelated
to the productiviety of the
land, for factoring seems to
be counter productive to
policies for farmland
preservation.
The presence of towns and
other large hamlets in some
townships has softened the
blow relative to some of the
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